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Monday, July 6, 2009

Happy 4th Week Birthday, Little Maples!

A birthday means party time, I guess! Little George has just been in a playin' mood all night and nothing changed when Momma Peggy Sue climbed in the crate and settled in to nurse! You could almost hear George saying, "No, mommy, no!! Want play!! PLAY!!!" Peggy Sue moved off to the outer courtyard and the other kittens bellied up to the milk bar. Not George! He continued to play by himself! Take a peek:

At one month it is time to introduce them to formula. I wish I'd grabbed the camera before I put down the food! As soon as the dish was in the compound, the kittens started sniffing the air... no joke! Just like animals scenting in the wild. Slowly they made their way over, heads up and sniffing, and all of them snuffled at the food. Fred dove right in... whole muzzle… backed off, cleaned his upper lip and then started lapping! Soon Ginny delicately tasted the milk Fred splashed on the rim and then went in for more. George and Percy were just starting to look like they’d join in when Momma Peggy Sue arrived on the scene. Once she stuck her head in, everyone backed off, except greedy little Fred!

In case you're wondering, I put a tiny bit of crushed kitten kibble on the other side so they’d start to associate the scent with food… I figured Mom would eat it, and she did. Next step for the dweebles will come later in the week - kitten wet food mushed in with some formula.

8 comments:

Oh...these little ones are too adorable! You can tell that they are growing up. I got my Freddie (known as Boy Cat on my blog) at 6 weeks old. I had visited him at about 5 weeks, and he and his littermates were still trying to nurse...but Momma Cat kept pushing them away, so I took that as a sign that they were nearly weaned.

I came back a week later and there was no nursing going on at all, so I hoped that it was OK to take him. (I have a full bio for each of my animals on my blog, so feel free to peek - just click on the "pets" category. Basically, my cats came from a family of half-wild cats that were living on the property of a friend's neighbor, with no spaying or neutering, and minimal food and shelter as far as I could tell.)

Oh, good grief. That first video is Cute Overload material--I mean, flailing paws AND marmie belly stripes? (And I agree with AnnF, it would take someone with a heart of solid rock NOT to coo over these babies!)

Oh my goodness...I think I'm just completely in love with George...the toe munching really pushed me over the edge...I can just sit here all day and watch these videos! I swear, I can feel my heart melting into a puddle :)

We are at the other end of the spectrum with Barney - starting to go from kitten food/milk blend to straight kitten food - though for him it won't be tough because he already has begun to steal from the big cats! I hope they like the crunchy kibble - Barney used to like it but has lost interest for right now - and the big cats steal it (of course). And those videos are wonderful - that George is such a cutie - he was definately playing it up for the camera!

That George is something else! I just want to reach in there and tickle that little striped belly! They sure look like they are getting enough to eat too with their cute little round selves. Peggy Sue pretty much gave up on giving George a bath and I thought I heard Aggie in the background meowing? Or was that my imagination missing her? So Cute!

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